A teenage boy told police how he discovered his mother's mutilated body - then unwittingly rushed out into the street into the arms of her alleged killer.

Terry Marsh found the blood-spattered body of his mother Heather Barnett in the bathroom of their flat after returning home from school.

After phoning police, the 14-year-old and his sister Caitlin, 11, ran outside to look for neighbours to help, and were greeted by Danilo Restivo - the man now on trial for Mrs Bartlett's murder.

Butchered: Heather Barnett was discovered dead at her house in Charminster, Bournemouth, by her two children

Italian Restivo, 39, is alleged to have entered the flat of his neighbour Mrs Barnett in Bournemouth, Dorset, bludgeoned her with a hammer and cut her throat down to the spinal column.

Today jurors at Winchester Crown Crown Court were played an interview with the schoolboy recorded at a police station the day after the killing, on November 12, 2002.

The court heard that Mrs Barnett's children Terry, then 14, and Caitlin, then 11, found their mother's body when they came home from school the previous afternoon.

Accused: Danilo Restivo is on trial today with Mrs Barnett's murder

Mr Restivo, who allegedly had a hair fetish which saw him cut locks of hair from Mrs Barnett's body, is said to have comforted her two children soon after their mother's death.

Describing the moment immediately after discovering his mother's body when he ran outside to get help, Terry Marsh told officers he saw Restivo and the Italian's then-girlfriend Fiamma Marsango.

Terry said in the interview: 'He came over and we tried to explain, but because he was Italian he didn't speak much English. He didn't understand.

'Then Fiamma came over and she told him what had happened in Italian. He understood and grabbed me and my sister and we both started to cry.

'Then the police came and we went into their flat.'

The trial had heard yesterday that after killing Mrs Barnett, Restivo then cut off her breasts and put them by her head, while leaving a clump of someone else's hair in her right hand and some of her own underneath her left hand, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Her body was discovered at her house in Charminster, Bournemouth, by her two children soon after.

Describing the moment he found his mother's body, Terry had said in the police interview: 'Me and my sister got home from school and saw mum's Fiat Punto on the drive.

'My sister called out to mum and there was no answer. I thought she would be in the garden, but then I thought 'no,' because she always heard us and called out.

'The house was silent and I knew something was wrong. I just had one of those feelings in my gut and I did not like it.

'Normally mum would be doing her work at the table. I put my stuff in the bedroom and my sister went up to the bathroom. I followed behind and the door was closed.

'She knocked on the door. I said to her 'where is she?' She said 'I don't know' and I asked her if she was in the bathroom.

'She knocked on the door again. Then she opened it and went absolutely ballistic. I looked over her shoulder and saw my mum's leg, and I thought 'oh, s**t.'

Difficult time: Mrs Barnett's daughter, Caitlin Marsh - who was 11 when her mother was murdered - attended the opening day of the trial at Winchester Crown Court

Filomena Claps, Elisa's mother, was at court to hear to the opening of the case against Danilo Restivo

'At that moment I realised something big was happening. It's hard to say, but I wasn't scared - I was really calm.

'My first thought was to get my sister out of there because I did not want her seeing anything more.

'I opened the bathroom door and my mum's legs got in the way. I saw her lying on her back with blood everywhere.

'I thought she may have slipped, but then I saw all the blood and I knew this was no accident. It made me shudder.

'I closed the door, went to the phone and was shouting 'mum, mum, mum, wake up.''Then I rang 999 and asked for ambulance and police. I was so calm it was almost unreal.

'After that I went outside because I wanted to find a neighbour. I started looking to see if anyone was around and I saw Fiamma pulling up in her car.

'I beckoned for her to come over. She was laughing, but her boyfriend realised something was wrong by the way we were acting.'

The jury was told the manner in which Mrs Barnett was murdered could be considered Restivo's hallmark, and linked the killing to the murder of 16-year-old Elisa Claps in Potenza, Italy, in 1993.

Restivo had lived across the road from Mrs Barnett and knew her

The court heard yesterday that Restivo, who then lived in Potenza, had arranged to meet Miss Claps at the Most Holy Trinity Church on September 12, 1993.

The teenager was never seen again. Her body was discovered in a loft of the church almost 17 years later on March 17 last year.

The mother of Ms Claps, Filomena Claps, had travelled from Italy to attend the trial.